House Tarkanan
House Tarkanan is a pseudo-dragonmarked house based in Sharn consisting mostly of bearers of aberrant dragonmarks. The House takes its name from Lord Halas Tarkanan who, along with the Lady of the Plague, raised up those with aberrant dragonmarks to challenge the dragonmarked houses during the War of the Mark. Tarkanan nonetheless has a reputation for assassination, thievery and other unlawful deeds. Dragonmark House Tarkanan's members bear special dragonmarks called aberrant dragonmarks and thus their abilities vary greatly. 3.5 Edition: 'In the Eberron Campaign Setting page 47 the aberrant dragonmark can be taken as a feat by player characters. While the aberrant dragonmark is said to be imposible to improve in the ECS, Dragonmarked overrides this and presents a lesser and greater abberant dragonmark feat. The aberrant dragonmark has no single power and instead has a list of 13 spells from which the player chooses one and can then cast it. The lesser and greater aberrant dragonmark feat each grant an additional spell from a list of 14 resp. 13. '''4th Edition: '''In the Eberron Player's Guide pages 86-87 three Aberrant marks are available to player characters as feats. The aberrant marks are as follows. *Aberrant Mark of Contagion *Aberrant Mark of Madness *Aberrant Mark of Terror History Though it is the newest dragonmarked house, The War of the Mark played an important part in House Tarkanan's formation and ideology. The war began almost 2500 years ago, around the year -1500 when the established dragonmarked houses launched an inquisition to exterminate those who carried an aberrant mark. Unlike the dragonmarked houses, those who had aberrant marks were not united and so they were desperate for leaders. Leaders did rise to the challenge of commanding them, but none were as influential or great as Halas Tarkanan. Halas Tarkanan took refuge in the city of Dorasharn with his army and consort, the Lady of the Plague. Though Tarkanan and his army resisted, it was clear that the combined forces of the dragonmarked houses were far too overwhelming and the resistance would in the end be wiped out. Eventually Halas and his lady unleashed a curse which brought catastrophic earthquakes and summoned hordes of vermin from the depths. The curse destroyed the city along with Halas and his lady, ending the resistance. Pushed to the point of extinction, aberrant marks were rare and relatively weak, but over the last decade aberrant marks have been returning in greater numbers and some marks wield remarkable power. In defiance of the Twelve, House Tarkanan was formed by Thora Tavin, now Thora Tarkanan in 990 YK. House Tarkanan's objective is to search for those who have aberrant marks, recruit them and train them to use their powers. Difference in Editions In the 3.5 Eberron Campaign setting, House Tarkanan is never referred to as a House, though in multiple supplements, including ''Sharn: City of Towers (page 45 and page 154) and Dragonmarked (115, 158), House Tarkanan is mentioned as a House rather than an organization. In the 4th edition Eberron Campaign Guide pages 236-237, more information is provided on House Tarkanan and it appears alongside the other dragonmarked houses. In both editions House Tarkanan is not an official house. In 3.5 Thora Tavin runs House Tarkanan as a closely guarded secret, whereas in 4th edition Thora Tavin no longer runs the house, is open about her membership and is seen as the leader in the public's eye. House Tarkanan had no emblem in 3.5, but in 4th edition it was given an emblem featuring a beholder. In 3.5 there is no mention of the Son of Khyber. Notable Members *Thora Tarkanan *The Son of Khyber Affiliates *Halas Tarkanan *The Lady of the Plague Business When House Tarkanan first established itself in Sharn, the Boromar Clan attempted to assimilate them, but the offer was turned down. This resulted in the Boromars attempting to destroy the House. When this proved too difficult a deal was struck. Since the Boromar clan doesn't traffic in assassinations, it was agreed that so long as House Tarkanan doesn't take contracts against the Boromars, they would be permitted to stay in Sharn without paying a fee. Many of those who joined House Tarkanan are thieves or killers and those who are not are trained to become one. The House provides services for assassination along with burglary and pick pocketing. A client only needs to approach the House and provide enough information on what they want stolen or who they want killed and a fee is calculated there and then. Assassination falls into two categories: assassination and manslaughter. Assassination is more complex and the method, date, time and the condition of the corpse can be specified, whereas manslaughter is a cheaper option as the House will send a hitman to kill the target at whatever time, location and with whatever method they find easiest. House Tarkanan does not accept contracts that target high-ranking members of any major criminal organizations in Sharn such as the Boromar clan, Daask or The Tyrants. If the assassin is killed attempting the contract, then the House will send a second assassin or will cancel the contract and refund half of the fee if they believe it to be unachievable. House Tarkanan also offers a special service called assassination of the soul, in which they use their single +1 Keeper's Fang Dagger to kill the target. The dagger traps the target's soul in the domain of the keeper and thus they cannot be raised or resurrected. This service costs twice that of a normal assassination. Joining House Tarkanan House Tarkanan accepts anyone who has an aberrant dragonmark. Those who join will either be placed into the business side of the House or the assassination and theft side. The business side deals with general administration such as contracts and accounting. Senior assassins and thieves are given the title baron whilst junior members are known as lords or ladies. Key Locations *Thora's Manor Stats '''3.5 Edition *Thora Tavin: Sharn City of Towers p.154 4th Edition *Tarkanan Assassin: Eberron Campaign Guide p.237 *Tarkanan Soldier: Eberron Campaign Guide p.237 Notes The alignment of the house is never officially documented and the alignment given is an educated approximation by this wiki. References * * Pages 154-155 * Pages 236-237 Category:Dragonmarked Houses Category:Criminals Category:Organizations of Sharn